The Light Found in the Dark
by ChereBelleRogue
Summary: He was seeking revenge. She was trying to forget. They could save each other, or together, they could unknowingly destroy any hope left for them.


Chapter 1: Escape

 **Slade**

 _Flashback_

" _Where am I?" Slade Wilson asked, waking up with a jolt. He realized that he was on a small cot inside some kind of jail cell._

" _As far away from the world as I could get you," he heard. Oliver Queen, the man he'd hated since Shado's murder. "Where you can't hurt anyone ever again."_

" _That's your weakness, kid," Slade mocked. "You don't have the guts to kill me."_

" _No. I have the strength to let you live," Oliver replied._

" _Oh, you're a killer," he replied, trying to get a rise out of Oliver. Why was the kid so calm? "I know. I created you. You've killed plenty."_

" _Yes I have. You helped turn me into a killer when I needed to be one, and I'm alive today because of you," he responded. Why was the kid so calm?! It would be easier if he were angry at him. "I made it home because of you, and I got to see my family again." He's doing it again. He's being too damn calm._ I destroyed his city! He should be angry…or at the very least, in complete and utter despair. _"But over the past year, I've needed to be more, and I faltered, but then I stopped you…without killing…"_ Now he's mocking me, making me feel like a failure… _and_ he didn't kill me…I'd rather if he did. _"You helped me become a hero, Slade. Thank you."_

 _Now the kid was thanking him for something that he'd rather not take credit for. "You think I won't get outta here?" Slade responded angrily. "You think I won't kill those you care for?"_

" _No, I don't," Oliver replied, opening the door._ What?! I will kill everyone you love. How dare you doubt me! _"Because you're in Purgatory."_ You refused to kill me, and now you're leaving me to rot on the damned island that we tried so hard to escape?!

" _I keep my promises, kid," Slade said as Oliver moved to close the door. As he walked out the door, Slade yelled, "I KEEP MY PROMISES! I. KEEP. MY. PROMISES!" He heard the door lock, a second hatch opening, and finally closing, leaving Slade alone. In hell._

* * *

One Year Later

Slade paced around his cell, cursing Oliver Queen's name. Every other week, he'd get enough food to survive until the next shipment, but he was restless. Slade would plot to destroy Oliver for killing Shado and for locking him up on Lian Yu again.

As the year passed, Slade's hallucinations of Shado became less frequent and would disappear when he acknowledged them. He would listen to the hallucination while exercising, but soon, he wasn't able to see Shado. By the end of the first year, all he could hear is a whisper of her voice in his head.

* * *

Four Years Later

Five years had passed since Slade had been imprisoned on the island again. Five years of silence and isolation let him rethink what happened last time on the island. Slade accepted Shado's death and realized that Oliver was not at fault for it. The lack of mirakuru in his system allowed his emotions and thoughts to stabilize once more; however, Slade was still trapped on the island. He plotted his revenge on Oliver for leaving him to rot in his personal piece of hell. Although he released himself of his vow for vengeance for Shado's death, he made a new vow: to make Oliver Queen pay for stranding him.

* * *

 **Kyle**

Kyle Morris was vacationing on a small boat with his brother, Mark. "Hey! This storm is getting pretty bad, man," Mark said.

"Yeah, but it'll probably pass," Kyle replied.

"Dude, I don't know. Maybe we should call for help."

"Nah, it's fine. The guy who sold it to me told me that it's strong," Kyle said proudly.

"But what if-" Mark started, but the boat was pushed over by large wave. Kyle and Mark flew overboard into the ocean.

When Kyle reached the surface, he searched for Mark, but couldn't find him. "MARK!" he yelled, growing frantic. "MARK!"

Kyle swam toward the overturned boat and sat on top of it, looking for his brother, but he couldn't see him. He stayed perched on the boat, searching, even after the storm blew away. He was drifting towards an island.

Kyle suddenly felt a jolt of hope, thinking that his brother could have washed ashore on that island.

When he finally drifted close enough to the beach, Kyle swam to shore. By the time he made it, his arms and legs, exhausted from the unusual activity, forced him to collapse on the sand. After struggling to stand, Kyle started walking around the beach, looking for his brother. As he made his way around, ne noticed a block of concrete and a hatch.

Making his way towards the hatch in the ground, he thought, _There must have been people living on this island! We're saved! Someone can help me find Mark, and we'll go back home and sue the shit outta that boat salesman._ He opened the hatch and climbed down. "Hello?" he called out. "Is anyone in here?"

He arrived at a second door with the word ARGUS written on it. Tentatively opening the door, Kyle peered around the corner only to be shoved back toward the ladder leading up to the surface. Before he knew it, there was a large man tackling him. "You're early, kid," the man angrily yelled. "I told you I'd get out-" he started.

"Who the hell are you?" Kyle yelled, frantically trying to get away from the man.

* * *

 **Slade:**

"Who the hell are you?" the kid yelled while scrambling away from him.

"Oh, sorry, mate. Wrong person," he replied calmly. "Slade Wilson."

"What the hell is going on?"

"Well, you let me out of the prison that a madman placed me in five years ago," Slade said, thinking quickly.

"You lived in that cell for five years?" Kyle asked with shock.

"Five years in that cell and quite a few more on the island," the mercenary replied. Any chance he could get to get off the island, he would take, and this petulant child seemed to be his closest possibility. "Who are you, and why are you here?" Slade asked, offering the kid his hand.

"I'm Kyle Morris," he replied. "My boat capsized, and my brother and I got separated in the water. When I get back, that salesman is going to want to go to hell after what I do to him."

"Your brother's probably dead," Slade said, unperturbed. "Do you have any way to contact for help?"

"My boat made it close to shore," Kyle replied, not listening to Slade's remark on his brother. "It's upside down, but there might still be stuff there."

"Let's go. There's only a few days before that man who locked me up here comes back to mock me," Slade said, climbing up to the surface.

Making their way down to the beach, they searched the shore for supplies, picking up the odd can of food covered in sea water and sand. "I found it!" Kyle yelled.

"What did you find?" Slade asked, exasperated with the kid.

"The radio from the ship still works. We can call for help!"

"Pull the radio out of the boat and get over here," Slade yelled back. He watched the kid violently pull the radio out of the boat.

"Here you go," Kyle said, panting at the exertion. Mentally, Slade rolled his eyes. Kyle reminded him of a more spoiled and annoying Oliver Queen.

"Now follow me."

"What were you doing out in the middle of nowhere?" Slade asked, trying to make time pass by.

"Well, we were just celebrating our new inheritance from our aunt," Kyle replied proudly. "She was the rich one in the family. Since we were her only family and our parents are dead, we got all her money and possessions when she died."

"What-" Slade stopped short, hearing a faint clicking noise.

"Um, I just stepped on something metal," Kyle said anxiously. Slade carefully searched around Kyle's foot to discover what he stepped on.

"It's a landmine—an old one at that," Slade said. "Stay here and don't move. I'll look for something to keep weight on that thing."

"If it's old, then it's probably not active," Kyle responded arrogantly.

"It's definitely not a risk I would take with someone's life. I'll be right back."

* * *

"This is stupid," Kyle said to himself. "This thing looks really old. I bet I could walk away and be fine. That stupid British guy has no idea what he's talking about."

Kyle lifted his foot off the trigger.

 **BOOM!**

Slade walked ten minutes before he heard the explosion. "That idiot," he said, unperturbed. Rather than going back, Slade continued his trek to the mountain, contemplating the ways he was going to seek revenge. His revenge on Oliver as well as all of _Team Arrow_ would have to wait until he made it back to civilization.

* * *

A/N: I started writing this when season 2 ended, so it won't follow what's happening currently in season 3. My OC will appear in the next chapter…so….REVIEW!

I need to know what is good, what could be improved upon….I don't even care if you flame. It just means that you're passionate about the subject…and so am I…

My updates will not be very consistent….I have 2 jobs and school….soooo….yeah….I'll work on this when I have time.


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